black spec on Bismarck...ughhh

Well, nuts :rant:

After my shave tonight, I noticed a small spec of black on the back side of the blade of my 4 month old Dovo Bismarck! It's not huge, doesn't effect performance and doesn't look like rust. Maybe some sort of either waterspot or one of those black mystery spots.

From reading in the past, everyone has recommended some metal polish...so off to get my simichrome I went. After a careful application so as to not get any on the gold, I started working...but it didn't come off...<sigh>

I don't think it's much to be worried about, but want to confirm it with you guys.

I had just finished restoring a blade to a mirror finish, ran out of time to assemble the razor and so left it on a napkin on top of my fridge while I went on holiday for 11 days.
When I got home I found several small black spots.:dropjaw: I tried polish, High grit W/D paper, but had to take it back down to 600 grit to get rid of it and then work back to a mirror polish.
That may be what it will take for you but it depends how much of a perfectionist you are.

It's a form of rust & if it doesn't bother you leave it alone but a light oil after use may prevent more of the same. I know lots of guys don't oil their blades but I can't get away with that in my climate.

I drives me nuts too and some of my razors tend to show the dark spots faster then others. Even my beloved Filarmonicas. And I live in a dry climate. That's why I don't like razors with gold etching as much as I buff my razors every so often to a mirror shine. Yes, I'm anal when it comes to my own razors too.
Oil does seem to help but for me it's to much trouble and messy so I learned to live with it and use my tools to remove them when needed.

I've noticed similar black specs on the blade of my Dovo "Black Star." I use Camellia oil on the blade every couple of days to reduce the possibility of rust, though.

Thanks for the enlightenment.

That sucks. maybe something a bit more agressive, like turtle wax premium rubbing compound?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

It's a form of rust & if it doesn't bother you leave it alone but a light oil after use may prevent more of the same. I know lots of guys don't oil their blades but I can't get away with that in my climate.

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figured as much. What irks me the most is that I'm pretty anal about the blades of my razors. I live in an arid region of the country and still oil the blade after each use. I might bump up the volume and use a bit of chromium oxide on it to see if it works.

As dry a climate as one may live in, the razor is still exposed to water during the shave.
As Max said some steels are more prone to rust than others.
If you look thru a microscope you'd be surprised what the surface of a new razor looks like after a few shaves.

Be sure the blade is dry when you put it up, happens to everybody and for the same reason.

Admittedly new both to this site and straight razor use, but, with a concern for the potential for spotting/rust, I wipe the blade clean, then run a hair dryer over the razor to make certain that all moisture on the blade, or inside the scales (especially around the pin is evaporated...then oil.